In the mid 1950's, volatile deodorizing agents were available as vaporizing liquid deodorants under such trademarks as Air Wick.RTM. and Wizard Wick.RTM.. These deodorants were dispensed from bottles, usually glass, which contained an absorbent wick which was mounted on a wire frame and which wick extended vertically down through the bottle, to the bottom thereof. When the bottle cap was removed, the end of the water frame became accessible and would be pulled up as much as desired, into the air to thereby expose a portion of the wick to the surrounding air. The liquid in the container by the wicking action of the wick, was raised to the top and evaporated into the air to thereby destroy offensive odors and to pleasantly scent the air as with the smell of pine trees. The time required to completely dispel an odor such as cigarette smoke in a given enclosed space, depended upon the extent of projection of the wick from the bottle. Usually this was about two inches above the top of the opening and such wicks were about 3/4" wide. With such limited exposure, the amount of deodorant dispensed at any given time, was limited and thus, a comparitively long time was required to deodorize a given enclosed space.
One of the major problems of this type of deodorant was the fact that after the job was done, it was necessary for the home owner to remember to close the bottle in order not to waste the liquid through undesired volatilization. In addition, there is always the hazard that children, pets or even adults, could knock the bottle over, thereby spilling the liquid contents. In the 50's, peel-off labels were not readily available, and as such, bottles that were of a fanciful style, after the labels were removed, were not available.
The world then moved to gel formed products which would sublime in the presence of atmospheric air, to thereby release their active ingredients into the room. These products were constantly releasing their active ingredients into the room, in which they were exposed, by evaporation and/or sublimination. However, depending upon the intended application, it may be desirable to have even more distribution of the vaporized product throughout the environment, than is possible by merely exposing the gel at a fixed location. Thus, in bathrooms which are subject to odor concentrations on being used, the scent available from a sublimating gel or stick-like solid, may not be sufficient at any one time, to overcome an offensive bathroom odor.
The next innovation to come to market, were the deodorant sprays. These had the advantage of quick delivery, with very small particle size droplets which could immediately mask or neutralize an offensive odor. However, due to the problem with the flurocarbons, it became necessary to do away with many of the delivery systems used for such volatilizible liquids.
Whereas the deodorizing sprays require an active useage in order to impart an odor removing composition into the environment of a particular room or chamber, no such physical act is necessary with the device of this invention. The instant device to the contrary, can be operated at all times, quietly, without notice, and without any physical effort.